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De Romeri, V., Majumdar, A., Papoulias, D. K., & Srivastava, R. (2024). XENONnT and LUX-ZEPLIN constraints on DSNB-boosted dark matter. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 028–34pp.
Abstract: We consider a scenario in which dark matter particles are accelerated to semirelativistic velocities through their scattering with the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background. Such a subdominant, but more energetic dark matter component can be then detected via its scattering on the electrons and nucleons inside direct detection experiments. This opens up the possibility to probe the sub -GeV mass range, a region of parameter space that is usually not accessible at such facilities. We analyze current data from the XENONnT and LUX-ZEPLIN experiments and we obtain novel constraints on the scattering cross sections of sub -GeV boosted dark matter with both nucleons and electrons. We also highlight the importance of carefully taking into account Earth's attenuation effects as well as the finite nuclear size into the analysis. By comparing our results to other existing constraints, we show that these effects lead to improved and more robust constraints.
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Renner, J., Cervera-Villanueva, A., Hernando, J. A., Izmaylov, A., Monrabal, F., Muñoz, J., et al. (2015). Improved background rejection in neutrinoless double beta decay experiments using a magnetic field in a high pressure xenon TPC. J. Instrum., 10, P12020–19pp.
Abstract: We demonstrate that the application of an external magnetic field could lead to an improved background rejection in neutrinoless double-beta (0 nu beta beta) decay experiments using a high-pressure xenon (HPXe) TPC. HPXe chambers are capable of imaging electron tracks, a feature that enhances the separation between signal events (the two electrons emitted in the 0 nu beta beta decay of Xe-136) and background events, arising chiefly from single electrons of kinetic energy compatible with the end-point of the 0 nu beta beta decay (Q(beta beta)). Applying an external magnetic field of sufficiently high intensity (in the range of 0.5-1 Tesla for operating pressures in the range of 5-15 atmospheres) causes the electrons to produce helical tracks. Assuming the tracks can be properly reconstructed, the sign of the curvature can be determined at several points along these tracks, and such information can be used to separate signal (0 nu beta beta) events containing two electrons producing a track with two different directions of curvature from background (single-electron) events producing a track that should spiral in a single direction. Due to electron multiple scattering, this strategy is not perfectly efficient on an event-by-event basis, but a statistical estimator can be constructed which can be used to reject background events by one order of magnitude at a moderate cost (about 30%) in signal efficiency. Combining this estimator with the excellent energy resolution and topological signature identification characteristic of the HPXe TPC, it is possible to reach a background rate of less than one count per ton-year of exposure. Such a low background rate is an essential feature of the next generation of 0 nu beta beta experiments, aiming to fully explore the inverse hierarchy of neutrino masses.
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Herrero-Garcia, J., Schwetz, T., & Zupan, J. (2012). On the annual modulation signal in dark matter direct detection. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 005–28pp.
Abstract: We derive constraints on the annual modulation signal in Dark Matter (DM) direct detection experiments in terms of the unmodulated event rate. A general bound independent of the details of the DM distribution follows from the assumption that the motion of the earth around the sun is the only source of time variation. The bound is valid for a very general class of particle physics models and also holds in the presence of an unknown unmodulated background. More stringent bounds are obtained, if modest assumptions on symmetry properties of the DM halo are adopted. We illustrate the bounds by applying them to the annual modulation signals reported by the DAMA and CoGeNT experiments in the framework of spin-independent elastic scattering. While the DAMA signal satisfies our bounds, severe restrictions on the DM mass can be set for CoGeNT.
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Balibrea-Correa, J., Lerendegui-Marco, J., Babiano-Suarez, V., Caballero, L., Calvo, D., Ladarescu, I., et al. (2021). Machine Learning aided 3D-position reconstruction in large LaCl3 crystals. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A, 1001, 165249–17pp.
Abstract: We investigate five different models to reconstruct the 3D gamma-ray hit coordinates in five large LaCl3(Ce) monolithic crystals optically coupled to pixelated silicon photomultipliers. These scintillators have a base surface of 50 x 50 mm(2) and five different thicknesses, from 10 mm to 30 mm. Four of these models are analytical prescriptions and one is based on a Convolutional Neural Network. Average resolutions close to 1-2 mm fwhm are obtained in the transverse crystal plane for crystal thicknesses between 10 mm and 20 mm using analytical models. For thicker crystals average resolutions of about 3-5 mm fwhm are obtained. Depth of interaction resolutions between 1 mm and 4 mm are achieved depending on the distance of the interaction point to the photosensor surface. We propose a Machine Learning algorithm to correct for linearity distortions and pin-cushion effects. The latter allows one to keep a large field of view of about 70%-80% of the crystal surface, regardless of crystal thickness. This work is aimed at optimizing the performance of the so-called Total Energy Detector with Compton imaging capability (i-TED) for time-of-flight neutron capture cross-section measurements.
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Olleros, P., Caballero, L., Domingo-Pardo, C., Babiano, V., Ladarescu, I., Calvo, D., et al. (2018). On the performance of large monolithic LaCl3(Ce) crystals coupled to pixelated silicon photosensors. J. Instrum., 13, P03014–17pp.
Abstract: We investigate the performance of large area radiation detectors, with high energy-and spatial-resolution, intended for the development of a Total Energy Detector with gamma-ray imaging capability, so-called i-TED. This new development aims for an enhancement in detection sensitivity in time-of-flight neutron capture measurements, versus the commonly used C6D6 liquid scintillation total-energy detectors. In this work, we study in detail the impact of the readout photosensor on the energy response of large area (50 x 50 mm(2)) monolithic LaCl3(Ce) crystals, in particular when replacing a conventional mono-cathode photomultiplier tube by an 8 x 8 pixelated silicon photomultiplier. Using the largest commercially available monolithic SiPM array (25 cm(2)), with a pixel size of 6 x 6 mm(2), we have measured an average energy resolution of 3.92% FWHM at 662 keV for crystal thick-nesses of 10, 20 and 30 mm. The results are confronted with detailed Monte Carlo (MC) calculations, where optical processes and properties have been included for the reliable tracking of the scintillation photons. After the experimental validation of the MC model, we use our MC code to explore the impact of a smaller photosensor segmentation on the energy resolution. Our optical MC simulations predict only a marginal deterioration of the spectroscopic performance for pixels of 3 x 3 mm(2).
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Kim, J. S., Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Perez, A. D., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2023). Right-handed sneutrino and gravitino multicomponent dark matter in light of neutrino detectors. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 050–32pp.
Abstract: We investigate the possibility that right-handed (RH) sneutrinos and gravitinos can coexist and explain the dark matter (DM) problem. We compare extensions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and the next-to-MSSM (NMSSM) adding RH neutrinos superfields, with special emphasis on the latter. If the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and the RH sneutrino the next-to-LSP (NLSP), the heavier particle decays to the former plus left-handed (LH) neutrinos through the mixing between the scalar partners of the LH and RH neutrinos. However, the interaction is suppressed by the Planck mass, and if the LH-RH sneutrino mixing parameter is small, << O(10-2), a long-lived RH sneutrino NLSP is possible even surpassing the age of the Universe. As a byproduct, the NLSP to LSP decay produces monochromatic neutrinos in the ballpark of current and planned neutrino telescopes like Super-Kamiokande, IceCube and Antares that we use to set constraints and show prospects of detection. In the NMSSM+RHN, assuming a gluino mass parameter M3 = 3 TeV we found the following lower limits for the gravitino mass m3/2 >= 1-600 GeV and the reheating temperature TR >= 105-3 x 107 GeV, for m nu similar to R similar to 10-800 GeV. If we take M3 = 10 TeV, then the limits on TR are relaxed by one order of magnitude.
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NEXT Collaboration(Renner, J. et al), Benlloch-Rodriguez, J., Botas, A., Ferrario, P., Gomez-Cadenas, J. J., Alvarez, V., et al. (2017). Background rejection in NEXT using deep neural networks. J. Instrum., 12, T01004–21pp.
Abstract: We investigate the potential of using deep learning techniques to reject background events in searches for neutrinoless double beta decay with high pressure xenon time projection chambers capable of detailed track reconstruction. The differences in the topological signatures of background and signal events can be learned by deep neural networks via training over many thousands of events. These networks can then be used to classify further events as signal or background, providing an additional background rejection factor at an acceptable loss of efficiency. The networks trained in this study performed better than previous methods developed based on the use of the same topological signatures by a factor of 1.2 to 1.6, and there is potential for further improvement.
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LISA Cosmology Working Group(Bartolo, N. et al), & Figueroa, D. G. (2022). Probing anisotropies of the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background with LISA. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 11, 009–65pp.
Abstract: We investigate the sensitivity of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) to the anisotropies of the Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background (SGWB). We first discuss the main astrophysical and cosmological sources of SGWB which are characterized by anisotropies in the GW energy density, and we build a Signal-to-Noise estimator to quantify the sensitivity of LISA to different multipoles. We then perform a Fisher matrix analysis of the prospects of detectability of anisotropic features with LISA for individual multipoles, focusing on a SGWB with a power-law frequency profile. We compute the noise angular spectrum taking into account the specific scan strategy of the LISA detector. We analyze the case of the kinematic dipole and quadrupole generated by Doppler boosting an isotropic SGWB. We find that beta Omega(GW) similar to 2 x 10(-11) is required to observe a dipolar signal with LISA. The detector response to the quadrupole has a factor similar to 10(3) beta relative to that of the dipole. The characterization of the anisotropies, both from a theoretical perspective and from a map-making point of view, allows us to extract information that can be used to understand the origin of the SGWB, and to discriminate among distinct superimposed SGWB sources.
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Bertone, G., Calore, F., Caron, S., Ruiz de Austri, R., Kim, J. S., Trotta, R., et al. (2016). Global analysis of the pMSSM in light of the Fermi GeV excess: prospects for the LHC Run-II and astroparticle experiments. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 037–20pp.
Abstract: We present a new global fit of the 19-dimensional phenomenological Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (pMSSM-19) that complies with all the latest experimental results from dark matter indirect, direct and accelerator dark matter searches. We show that the model provides a satisfactory explanation of the excess of gamma rays from the Galactic centre observed by the Fermi Large Area Telescope, assuming that it is produced by the annihilation of neutralinos in the Milky Way halo. We identify two regions that pass all the constraints: the first corresponds to neutralinos with a mass similar to 80 – 100 GeV annihilating into WW with a branching ratio of 95%; the second to heavier neutralinos, with mass similar to 180 – 200 GeV annihilating into (l) over barl with a branching ratio of 87%. We show that neutralinos compatible with the Galactic centre GeV excess will soon be within the reach of LHC run-II – notably through searches for charginos and neutralinos, squarks and light smuons – and of Xenon1T, thanks to its unprecedented sensitivity to spin-dependent cross-section off neutrons.
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Nygren, D. R., Jones, B. J. P., Lopez-March, N., Mei, Y., Psihas, F., & Renner, J. (2018). Neutrinoless double beta decay with 82SeF6 and direct ion imaging. J. Instrum., 13, P03015–23pp.
Abstract: We present a new neutrinoless double beta decay concept: the high pressure selenium hexafluoride gas time projection chamber. A promising new detection technique is outlined which combines techniques pioneered in high pressure xenon gas, such as topological discrimination, with the high Q-value afforded by the double beta decay isotope Se-82. The lack of free electrons in SeF6 mandates the use of an ion TPC. The microphysics of ion production and drift, which have many nuances, are explored. Background estimates are presented, suggesting that such a detector may achieve background indices of better than 1 count per ton per year in the region of interest at the 100 kg scale, and still better at the ton-scale.
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